Love Lies Dying (8 page)

Seven

John spent longer in the shower than usual. The water was hot and steamy and felt great on his body, but he also wanted to use the time alone to think about Zoe and the situation she was in.

It was such an amazing story. Almost unbelievable. But why would Zoe invent something so fantastic? Anyway, Helen believed her and Helen wasn’t one to be suckered! Still, he needed to give the whole situation more thought.

He wanted to, but all he could see was Zoe lying naked or sitting naked on the couch, Zoe sitting at the end of the bed in his blue dressing gown, Zoe’s breasts, Zoe’s hair, Zoe, Zoe, ZOE!

And no matter how he tried to stop it, he soon found himself erect and throbbing.

He tried to move his mind onto other things, to help his erection subside, but as soon as it looked like he was succeeding, she would pop back into his mind and blood would automatically flow back into his cock.

She’s young and so different from what I’m used to
, he thought to himself.

“Have you ever thought about having an affair?” she had asked him. “I mean, you
must
have, right? Who hasn’t thought about it?”

“Oh, Zoe,” he said to himself. “Things just aren’t that easy.”

“What isn’t that easy?” she replied.

He turned to find her standing by the shower screen, his blue dressing gown still draping her shoulders and a towel in her hands.

“What are you
doing
?” he asked, placing his hands on his hips.

She ran her eyes up and down his body, stopping at his erect cock.

“I just came in here to help you out,” she said.

John realised standing with hands on hips wasn’t helping his situation. He swung around so his back was to her and cupped his hands over his groin as a second line of defence.

“Seems like you need some help,” she nodded her head towards his hands. “Naughty thoughts?”

“No,” he said. “Nothing like that.”

“So you usually get all hard in the shower?” she teased. “My, you are a naughty boy. You’ll go blind, Johnny, unless you let a good woman take care of you.”

Keeping one hand over his erection, he used the other to turn off the water and then he reached back towards her.

“I believe you have a towel for me?”

She handed him the one she had been holding.

Quickly, John wrapped it around his hips and knotted it in front. Luckily, the knot seemed to hide most of the bulge from between his legs.

Zoe giggled, “So, spill the beans.”

“Beans? What beans?”

“You said that things aren’t that easy. What were you talking about?”

“Nothing,” he walked from the shower and headed back to the main bedroom. “It doesn’t matter now.”

“Tell me,” she asked as she followed.

“No, I was just talking to myself.”

“That’s the first sign of madness, you know.”

“Very funny.”

He walked into the main bedroom and headed straight for his underwear drawer by the bed. He noticed that the double bed had been made and that Zoe’s suitcase was pushed into the far corner in front of Helen’s wardrobe, along with one of Helen’s bedroom chairs. She
had
been busy with the housework.

“So, why were you talking to yourself?” She jumped onto the bed and crawled across towards him.

He turned to watch her as she came closer. His bathrobe was fully open now and her breasts jiggled as she approached. They were the perfect shape and so lovely and tanned.

Turning back to the underwear drawer, he searched for an old pair of boxers. There was plenty of Helen’s underwear in the drawer, but only a couple of pairs of his pushed to the back. He could smell Helen in the drawer and in the room. It was a different smell from Zoe; not as fresh or as exciting.

He continued digging around, needing time to focus on something mundane to ease his pulsing erection.

“Obviously,” he continued as he inspected the contents of the drawer closer than ever before. “I wasn’t talking to myself if you were in there with me.”

“Exactly! But you didn’t know I was there!”

“That’s right,” John said. “Which leads me to ask,
why
were you there?”

There was silence from behind him. He wasn’t going to turn around, he wanted to make sure he got an answer.

“Well?” he picked a pair of boxers, bent over and pulled them up his legs and under the towel, making sure they were positioned correctly before turning around.

“I just wanted to help you, Johnny. Honestly.”

“You don’t have to help me
that
much,” he said as he turned to face her.

She was lying on the bed, her legs and arms apart, the bathrobe flung open. She lay there like an angel with blue wings. Her body shone in the sunlight and she looked more tanned than before, as if the sun’s rays were gently caressing her body and warming her, ready for him.

He couldn’t help it, his eyes moved from her painted red toenails up along her muscled and perfect legs, and rested on the bare, hairless folds between them.  With her legs spread wide, John could see more of her vagina than he had last night. The underside of her perfectly round buttocks and the crack between them drew his eyes up higher to the pink flaps sitting bare and moist and waiting for him. He tried hard to pull his eyes away, but he found it almost impossible. His erection thudded inside his boxers as if it were going to break out.

Oh, God!
he thought.

Then she moved.

She brought her knees up and spread her legs even further, widening the gap between them, and opening herself to him even more.

“I just want to help you, Johnny,” she whispered.

He tore his eyes from her lovely mound and looked at her face. She smiled back at him once more.

Such an angel,
he thought.
Such a beautiful angel.

His eyes worked their way from her face down along her breasts. They were sitting perfectly still and her nipples were hard and standing on end, like dollops of dark chocolate.

Her stomach rose rhythmically and he could see her ribs through the skin. He was drawn again to her tight muscles and the diamond sitting in her belly button and then lower, once more, to the inviting cleft between her legs.

Such a body,
he thought.

“Have you ever thought about having an affair?” she had said to him last night.

Who hasn’t?
he thought.

His erection was pushing against the boxers and the towel now. If he didn’t do something soon the towel would unwind and he’d be in a worse situation.

“You asked me to think about what I would like to do today,” she whispered. “I’ve decided.”

John ran a hand through his hair.

“Zoe, look –” he began.

“The only question is whether it’s what
you
want to do today too.”

“I’m flattered, really I am. But you have to understand, okay? You’ve got to see that I
love
someone else. I’m spoken for. I’m
with
someone
else!
”

Zoe nodded her head. “I do understand that, Johnny. You told me that last night.”

“But you don’t seem to understand!”

“I do!” she replied. “That’s okay, you love Helen, I’m fine with that. But she’s not here
now
.
I am
. What we do doesn’t have anything to do with Helen. Sex has got nothing to do with love.”

John sat down next to her and sighed, “Of course it does, Zoe. I don’t know what strange ideas Fox put into your head, but I only have sex with the person I love, I don’t go around having sex with just anyone.”

Zoe’s face fell. She grabbed the sides of the bathrobe and wrapped them around her body, cutting off his view.

“So that’s all I am?” she whispered. “I’m just
anyone
.”

John sighed deeply, “That’s not what I meant.”

“I’m repulsive, aren’t I?” she whispered.

“What?” John stared at her.

“You don’t want to have sex with me because I’m repulsive.”

“Come on, Zoe. You know you’re not.”

“You don’t want my body. You don’t want me. I’m no good to anyone except Ricky Fox.”

“Don’t talk like that.”

“I shouldn’t have left him,” she mumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Okay, now you really
are
being stupid,” he stood and walked over to his wardrobe. He couldn’t take much more of this. “You know that’s not true. You know you did the best thing. You had to get out of there.”

“Fat lot of good it did me, I’m no use to anyone else now I’ve been with him. I’m ugly, dirty and tarnished.”

He slid open the wardrobe door to look for something to wear. It stuck on the tracks and he had to push harder. Helen’s overstocked wardrobe was always too full, making it difficult for him to slide open his door.

I’ll have to talk to her about that,
he thought.
Again!

“Don’t be silly.”

“You hate me.”

He turned to face her, his arms spread wide. “Look, Zoe, stop all this. I don’t hate you. I like you, I really do. I just won’t have
sex
with you, do you understand?”

“But why?” She rolled onto one side to face him and spread the dressing gown open once more so he could look at her again. “Why wouldn’t you? What’s so repulsive about this?”

He glanced at her body and slowly made his way over to the bed. He kneeled on the ground and looked deep into her brown haunting eyes.

“There’s nothing wrong with you, Zoe. Believe me, please? You are the most beautiful girl I have ever met. You caught me with an erection in the shower because I was thinking about
you
, okay? I can’t get you out of my head! I’ll admit it. Since I found you naked on the sofa last night I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind. You’re a picture of beauty and I’ll probably fantasise about you until the day I die, but I’m in
love. Love!
Do you understand? And even though I’d dearly love to give you what you want, and what I want for that matter, it’s not going to happen. Okay?”

He continued to stare at her and he watched as the emotions whipped across her face. Her lip trembled and she half-smiled.

“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me, Johnny,” she whispered.

“Well, it’s all true,” he said.

She took one hand and wrapped the bathrobe around her body.

“Helen’s a lucky girl,” she said as she leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. “I’m sorry for all this. So sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he replied as he stood and walked back to his wardrobe. “Just as long as you now understand exactly what I’m talking about.”

She giggled, “Yeah, I do. Sorry. I can be so pig-headed sometimes. I always like to get what I want.”

John nodded as he picked out a shirt for the day. “That’s okay,” he said over his shoulder. “As long as you realise you’re not going to get
me!
”

She giggled again from behind him. He heard the sounds of the sheets rustling and footsteps on the floor.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she came up behind him and hugged him once again.

“Zoe…” he warned.

She stepped back and he turned around to face her. Her arms were stretched out and she had an innocent look on her face.

“Hey, I was just hugging a good friend, that’s all. Nothing else!”

She smiled and giggled again.

“Just as well,” he gave her a half-hearted stern look.

“Well,” she turned around and headed to her suitcase. “I better get dressed so you can show me the town.”

“Huh?”

“We’ve got to fill in some time before Helen comes to meet us at five. You told me to think about something to do today.”

“Yes, but I thought –”

“And number two on my list was a guided tour around wonderful Parkhurst,” she smiled.

“But shouldn’t we stay here? I mean, can you risk being seen outside if Fox is trying to hunt you down?”

She shook her head as she pulled the suitcase up onto the bed and opened it.

“I thought about that, Johnny. But we can sit around here all day doing nothing, with me thinking about Ricky and worrying about what he could do to me if he ever finds me, or you can take my mind off it all by showing me a good time in town somewhere. It’s your choice, but I think we both need to get out of this house and to keep our minds occupied, otherwise this bed could be too much of a temptation for
both
of us.”